


unasinous

by kaegays



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Probably., and im happy with how it came out right now even though that Will Not Last, but at least it just gets in their hair, i just had an urge and this happened while i was suffering a blackout, ive meant to more intentionally write something shippy so im glad this happened though, rei is dumb. kaoru is also dumb. hence unasinous, sand isnt fun and i will stand by this, still bad with dialogue but we r working on that, they.... almost hold hands. not quite., this was written 2 be homo but at this point u could also take it as touchy friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 23:20:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19413532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaegays/pseuds/kaegays
Summary: rei and kaoru laying in the sand 0 feet apart because why not thats what guys being dudes do





	unasinous

Kaoru is– warm. In the figurative way of course, smiles rivaling the accursed sun and kindness he may not have inherently deserved, words that soothe his wounds bit by bit in their own way (Not heal, never heal, only time would heal these) and make his chest just a touch too toasty and tight, but that’s not what Rei is marveling at right this second. No, it’s the literal warmth that has his mouth ever so slightly agape and a vague fuzz drifting down to his heart from his fingertips, laid upon Kaoru’s palm in what could loosely be described as hand holding.

Kaoru is a warm person, and a warm-blooded one. He shines his rays of poorly veiled kindness down upon the world in which he lives, and he’s full of love to deliver, and he’s not cold nor hot blooded; he doesn’t pitch violent fits, but he’s not horridly detached. Thus, warm-blooded. Warm blood that rushes to his cheeks and turns them pink when he’s embarrassed, blood that drains and turns him pale in fear, blood that makes him tick and what makes his hand so pleasant to touch. Blood that lets him live as he does.

Blood that lets his pulse beat, too, he notes as his fingers slowly slide off towards his bared wrist. Kaoru simply lets it happen, patient, watching Rei like he’s trying to read a particularly troubling book, like he’s trying to read between the lines of his skin and see what it is that’s meant by it. Rei offers nothing up, because he has nothing to say and the silence is… Perhaps not comforting, but it is not uncomfortable either.

Laid side by side like this, sand rubbing up against them and knees just shy of touching, it’s relaxing. He can’t say he dislikes it, and really, if they were on a blanket or towel of some sort he might say he rather enjoys it. He enjoys the way Kaoru’s let go on this trip, even if he’s unfortunately no good with the sun nor the water, these things that encompass the things that Kaoru loves.

“Sakuma-san,” It’s not loud, but there’s no effort to keep quiet either, a complete disregard for the mood. Rei can’t say he’s annoyed by that disregard, because it isn’t as if he was sure what to do with the mood himself. “what are you doing?”

It’s kind of blunt. It’s funny, amusing, just a touch endearing where perhaps most people wouldn’t think as much, what is there to find that endearing for?

No matter what those reasons for endearment are, he’s left feeling fond and chuckling a bit, a quiet little “Kukuku” that has Kaoru looking like he might be considering speaking up again to sulk a bit, though Rei is still ultimately allowed to speak up proper. Proper, but that does not mean he’s not going to tease him just a bit, a little “Hmm, what does it seem like, Kaoru-kun?”

He scrunches up his nose. Rei restrains himself from a few more loose giggles. “Ugh, you know that’s not… I know _what_ you’re doing, obviously, it’s not like I’m blind~?” Oh, but sometimes Rei fears _he_ may be the one to go blind– but that’s silly romantic phrases that cycle through his mind when it has little more to offer, not quite short-circuiting or checking out but still struggling to provide much food for thought. “I mean what is it to you.” There’s a yet unreadable glint in his eyes, one that Rei oh so dearly wishes he could understand; as pretty as Kaoru’s eyes are, reflecting the golden brown of the sand in which they lay upon, they lock down certain things about Kaoru and keep them far from Rei’s reach.

It’s just a touch frustrating, perhaps. Perhaps one day he’ll be allowed to see these things and understand him, or perhaps it will remain to remind him of the gap that he can’t bridge between them. Worse is that Kaoru’s expecting an answer where, for once, for one nerve-wrecking time, he doesn’t have one.

“I…” What is he supposed to say? How is he supposed to phrase it, exactly? It is a kind of fond behavior, certainly, but he’s not sure where it falls. He didn’t have these sort of questions with those who were made to be the same as him, but perhaps… While a bit frightening, it isn’t bad to be unsure? But he’s not used to this, used to not expecting himself to know everything, not used to being drug back down to planet earth where he really _isn’t_ an old man who’s wise about the world.

Light as a feather, the tips of Kaoru’s fingers brush across the back of his wrist, and the back of his hand; not close enough to caress, but close enough that it tickles and he can feel their warmth. When he falls back down from the cloud his mind perched itself on, Kaoru’s expression has cleared into something much more readable, a comfort for sure. Perhaps guilty isn’t the word, but the smile playing at his lips is fogged by something more than simply urging him to relax. His eyes crack open their doors, letting Rei see that little bit of shyness that holds him back even now. It’s simply part of Kaoru, another endearment that perhaps may change with time, or simply remain the same, unmarred by anything pulling him out of that shell.

“I mean, it’s not… I don’t mind? Not really?” He didn’t read like he did, but Rei allows a breath he didn’t know he was even holding to leave his mouth. Kaoru’s smile is sheepish, but grows a little bit less so at the audible relief. “It’s just, uh, like…” He giggles, a lovely little sound that has something tickle his insides. “You know?”

He doesn’t, not really, he has no clue at all– He nods his head and smiles anyway, because he’s a man powerless to do anything but. What is he supposed to do, contribute to the nerves? It’s already a lot that Kaoru had… Extended compliments his way without making reference to his gender.

(He can’t say it was flirting, even if it was, it’s much too much for a withered heart such as his own to handle.)

Despite the fact that Rei would’ve been fine were things to go silent, they don’t, and Kaoru continues on. His voice had started to almost die out on the last note of his previous phrase, but now it’s simply quiet. Rei would say it was that he couldn’t hear very well, he was getting old, had Kaoru asked why he scooted closer. He can hear just fine, he’s worn out, not deaf.

“I just kinda can’t help wanting to know?” He’s sound so unsure this whole time, but it’s rather contrary to the bold way he reaches out to run fingers through Rei’s hair, something that has him take pause, mouth just slightly agape as he stares at the way his golden-grey eyes are focusing in on him.

Breathtaking, perhaps, is the word he’d use. He barely hears the sand rattling out of his hair, but he hears when it stops and feels when he decides to keep his hand there anyways. “Hey, you’re not too charmed by me, are you, Sakuma-san~?” He could hear that it was supposed to be a joke even without the nervous laughing, but it doesn’t feel that way. A jolt of fear passes through his heart, a dread of being seen through he can’t understand beyond that it’s not pleasant having an invasion on even your private feelings, but it isn’t as though he’s suffering through an unrequited love or anything of that sort.

Though he hadn’t meant to mumble that “I’ve told you before, haven’t I? I’ve been charmed since the day we met…” it’s not a lie, either, and perhaps that’s half of what’s so uncomfortable about it having slipped past his filter. He presses his lips together tight, but contrary to his own discomfort, Kaoru looks somewhere between surprised and… (Flustered, he almost dares to think, but even the soft pink of his cheeks as his eyes widen does little to let him consider it as more than embarrassment.)

“And haven’t I told you to stop joking already…?” It’s even quieter, somehow, almost like a hesitance. But he doesn’t see why he would hesitate. What is there to hesitate on? Though perhaps Kaoru himself understands the fault in his words. It makes him a bit sad nonetheless, loosening his lips to allow for something of a saudade kind of smile, if he were to be particularly dramatizing in describing the feeling.

It’s not as if it’s anything quite as immense as love at first sight, like in the fairytales. But it’s true that there was certainly something attracting him to Kaoru from the start, a reason he wanted him in UNDEAD. Love is a strong word he’s not sure he could apply to this, but he certainly finds himself fonder and fonder of the boy, when he isn’t on his nerves.

“And why do you think I’m joking, Kaoru-kun?” It’s little more than whispered, but it’s a sincere question and one he’d like to hear the answer to. Why _does_ he think that? What makes him think that? What goes through his head? Faintly, he acknowledges the hitching of breath, but it could be Kaoru’s as much as it could be his own, anticipation thick in the air.

Kaoru doesn’t answer, jolts and pushes him away and out of his personal bubble instead, “You fuckers are being so _gross_ , could you at least help me and Adonis with all the time you got to lounge around, huh?!” answering for him the question of _why?_

He lays there for a moment, but he eventually sorts himself out and sits up, smiling as he watches Kaoru sputter about how wrong Koga’s got it, how he was just talking about where to look for the mermaid next, dusting sand out of his hair frantically.

He may not be allowed to build a bridge between them, but for a moment it felt as if Kaoru was allowing the bond to grow a touch stronger than it once was.

It’s… Nice, words fail him in the need to describe it. He’d like more of that. He hopes for more of that.

**Author's Note:**

> ive never written for rei before and that deadass probably shows im sowwie  
> anyways fucking finally i finish a wip hope yall like this im probably gonna DIE for another month. see yall in july probably. who knows what fuckass fic i'll whip out then!


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